The European economy cannot function without the success of the Visegrad (V4) countries; Hungary can contribute to the current good combined performance of the V4s with above-average indicators, Mihaly Varga said at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday after a meeting of Visegrad finance ministers, where the ministers signed a joint statement.
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The Minister of Finance added that
The Hungarian economy reached its performance in the pre-pandemic period, which can now be said of the ten EU countries.
He said the Hungarian V4 presidency, launched under the slogan “Recharge Europe”, will focus on three main axes: economic relaunching, security, and giving the V4 group a strong voice in the debate on the future of the EU. Meanwhile, he noted that during the Hungarian presidency since July, finance ministers met for the first time.
The economies of the four Visegrad countries grew faster before the pandemic and may show a faster recovery after the pandemic than the European Union as a whole, as evidenced by many public figures.
Finance Minister said.
Mihaly Varga explained: While last year’s economic contraction was 6.1 percent in the EU as a whole, it was 4.6 percent on average in V4. The EU unemployment rate topped 7 per cent last year, was 4.1 per cent in the V4 region and has improved further since then. The combined trade of V4s with Germany is twice the German-French trade and three times the German-Italian trade. All of these facts point in one direction: The European economy cannot function without the success of V4s, he asserted.
The prime minister stressed that
The direction of Hungarian economic policy has not changed as a result of the pandemic, it is based on supporting families and businesses, lowering taxes and encouraging investment.
The meeting reviewed the issues, all of which are considered priority, and said that the joint declaration identified a number of common goals and points of cooperation. He described it as seeking to relaunch economies and support fiscal policies. In the long term, they will maintain economic growth above the EU average by stimulating competitiveness, job creation and investment.
Mihaly Varga emphasized that according to the joint declaration, they will work to strengthen cooperation in combating tax fraud and coordinate their economic steps to help protect the climate. They increase support for families and paternity, as they are essential to keeping nations alive and overcoming demographic challenges. They also state that they will continue to cooperate in protecting external borders and combating illegal immigration.
I explained it in detail
Since 2015, Hungary has spent about 590 billion HUF building and protecting the border from a 175-kilometre fence to protect the borders and the Schengen borders in the union. The European Union financed just over 1 per cent of the costs.
He said the common position of the V4s is that the union is expected to play a greater role in strengthening the external borders in the wake of another wave of illegal immigration.
Regarding the press release that an agreement on the RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) can be reached within 6 weeks with EU funding issues, the Hungarian National Development Plan is in line with all aspects. Expectations, the programs will be launched later this year, Regardless of the agreement.
Slovak Finance Minister Igor Matovic confirmed:
The economies of Visegrad countries are healthy and the region is emerging stronger from the crisis caused by the pandemic.
They have weathered the crisis better than the old EU member states, and the results of V4 economies clearly show this. Question: High inflation is a shocking reaction to the crisis in economies, which will be temporary.
Czech Finance Minister Alena Schillerová said that powerful V4 engines will be able to effectively represent common interests and be able to meet current challenges. The signed LOI also emphasizes that important issues are jointly resolved by V4s. The mobilization of funds from the European Union’s Crisis Management Fund was also discussed. Digital businesses are also encouraged to pay location taxes at the European level.
Polish Finance Minister Tadeusz Kosinski said:
The meeting also reaffirmed the common intention to restart the economy.
Issues related to support for international tax cooperation, the digitization of financial operations, or financial regulation at the EU level were reviewed. I want all countries to be able to benefit from the financial instruments of the European Union. Inflation is expected to slow next year and stabilize at pre-pandemic levels.
Mihaly Varga, Minister of Finance, on our cover photo
